U.S. patent application number 12/533142 was filed with the patent office on 2010-02-04 for apparatus and method for advice provision and driving condition diagnosis.
This patent application is currently assigned to DENSO CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Shojiro Takeuchi, Nobutaka Tauchi, Kousuke Yamaoka.
Application Number | 20100030420 12/533142 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41609187 |
Filed Date | 2010-02-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100030420 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tauchi; Nobutaka ; et
al. |
February 4, 2010 |
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ADVICE PROVISION AND DRIVING CONDITION
DIAGNOSIS
Abstract
An advice provision apparatus calculates the driving condition
of the vehicle for every predetermined travel section, for the
purpose of comparison with the driving condition in the previous
travel section. The driving condition of the current section is
evaluated in a relative manner based on the comparison of at least
two travel sections, even when the absolute assessment of the
driving condition is difficult. Thus, the advice provision
apparatus can accurately and precisely diagnose the driving
condition of the driver.
Inventors: |
Tauchi; Nobutaka;
(Toyoake-city, JP) ; Yamaoka; Kousuke;
(Kariya-city, JP) ; Takeuchi; Shojiro; (Tokyo,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
POSZ LAW GROUP, PLC
12040 SOUTH LAKES DRIVE, SUITE 101
RESTON
VA
20191
US
|
Assignee: |
DENSO CORPORATION
Kariya-city
JP
TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Toyota-city
JP
|
Family ID: |
41609187 |
Appl. No.: |
12/533142 |
Filed: |
July 31, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
701/31.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60W 50/0098
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/29 |
International
Class: |
G06F 19/00 20060101
G06F019/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 1, 2008 |
JP |
2008-200004 |
Claims
1. An advice provision apparatus comprising: a vehicle information
acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information that represents
a condition of a vehicle; a diagnosis unit for diagnosing a driving
condition of the vehicle based on the vehicle information acquired
by the vehicle information acquisition unit; an advice generation
unit for generating an advice to be provided for a driver of the
vehicle based on a diagnosis result by the driving diagnosis unit;
and an advice notification unit for notifying the driver of the
advice generated by the advice generation unit, wherein the
diagnosis unit diagnoses the driving condition of a target travel
section by (a) calculating the driving condition of the vehicle for
each of travel sections and (b) comparing the calculated driving
condition of the target travel section with the calculated driving
conditions of other travel sections.
2. The advice provision apparatus of claim 1, wherein the advice
generation unit generates the advice based on the diagnosis result
by the diagnosis unit when the diagnosis result indicates the
deterioration of the driving condition in the target travel section
in comparison to the driving condition from the previous travel
section, and the advice generation unit does not generate the
advice based on the diagnosis result by the diagnosis unit when the
diagnosis result indicates that (a) the deterioration of the
driving condition in the target travel section in comparison to the
driving condition from the previous travel section and (b) the
improvement of the driving condition in the target travel section
relative to a threshold.
3. The advice provision apparatus of claim 1, wherein the diagnosis
unit diagnoses multiple items of the driving condition, and the
advice generation unit generates the advice on each of the multiple
items based on the diagnosis result of the relevant item with the
reservation that the advice for a specific item is not generated
for a predetermined period if the specific item has deteriorated
diagnosis results for consecutive travel sections.
4. The advice provision apparatus of claim 3, wherein each of the
multiple items has a weighting factor, and the driving condition of
the target travel section is diagnosed based totally on the
diagnosis results of the multiple items respectively weighted by
the weighting factor.
5. The advice provision apparatus of claim 4, wherein the advice
notification unit notifies the driver of the advice in an order of
heavily weighted items by the weighting factor.
6. The advice provision apparatus of claim 1, wherein the advice
notification unit notifies the driver of the advice when the
vehicle is stopping.
7. The advice provision apparatus of claim 6, wherein the advice
generation unit generates the advice when the vehicle is
stopping.
8. A driving condition diagnosis apparatus comprising: a vehicle
information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information that
represents a condition of a vehicle; and a diagnosis unit for
diagnosing a driving condition of the vehicle based on the vehicle
information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit,
wherein the diagnosis unit diagnoses the driving condition of a
target travel section by (a) calculating the driving condition of
the vehicle for every travel section and (b) comparing the
calculated driving condition of the target travel section with the
calculated driving condition of the other travel section.
9. A method for advice provision, the method comprising: acquiring
vehicle information that represents a condition of a vehicle;
diagnosing a driving condition of the vehicle based on the vehicle
information acquired by an act of acquiring the vehicle
information; generating an advice to be provided for a driver of
the vehicle based on a diagnosis result by an act of diagnosing the
driving condition; and notifying the driver of the advice generated
by an act of generating the advice, wherein the act of diagnosing a
driving condition diagnoses the driving condition of a target
travel section by (a) calculating the driving condition of the
vehicle for each of travel sections and (b) comparing the
calculated driving condition of the target travel section with the
calculated driving conditions of other travel sections.
10. A method for diagnosing a driving condition comprising:
acquiring vehicle information that represents a condition of a
vehicle; and diagnosing a driving condition of the vehicle based on
the vehicle information acquired by an act of acquiring the vehicle
information, wherein the act of diagnosing a driving condition
diagnoses the driving condition of a target travel section by (a)
calculating the driving condition of the vehicle for every travel
section and (b) comparing the calculated driving condition of the
target travel section with the calculated driving condition of the
other travel section.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application is based on and claims the benefit
of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-200004, filed
on Aug. 1, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by
reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to an advice
provision apparatus and a driving condition diagnosis system for
advice provision for the driver of a vehicle based on a diagnosis
of driving conditions.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
[0003] In recent years, environment-related situations have
developed serious problems such as an environmental pollution and a
global warming. In the automotive sectors, the reduction of
emission gas including carbon dioxide is a matter of growing
concern.
[0004] Further, safety issues are considered to have importance
under the current situation of traffic accidents and the like.
[0005] One approach to the above problems is that the vehicle is
equipped with more intelligent and sophisticated functions intended
to improve the current standard of environment-friendly and safer
performance of the vehicle. This approach has been implemented
after the awareness to those problems and concerns, and has yielded
a certain outcome.
[0006] The other approach to the above problems is that the drivers
are trained to have improved efficiency in terms of driving the
vehicle on a lower fuel consumption rate, with improved
safety-related driving skills. Therefore, ideas for the improvement
of the driving skills of individual drivers have been proposed,
which includes, for example, an apparatus for diagnosing driving
conditions of the driver while he/she is sitting behind the
wheel.
[0007] For example, an apparatus disclosed in Japanese patent
document JP-A-2000-247162 notifies the driver of diagnosis and
evaluation results on multiple diagnosis items based on the
detection of the driving conditions and comparison of the detected
conditions with standard values.
[0008] However, in terms of diagnosis/evaluation accuracy of the
driving conditions, some diagnosis items can hardly be diagnosed
appropriately in a quantitative manner (i.e., an absolute
assessment).
[0009] For example, the fuel mileage smaller than a certain
standard value in a specific section does not necessarily means
that the driving condition in that section is better than the other
sections. That is, in other words, the smaller fuel mileage in an
expressway, which is usually smaller than the fuel mileage in a
local road, should not automatically be diagnosed that the vehicle
is in a good driving condition, if, for example, the fuel mileage
is not smaller than the average fuel mileage calculated from daily
travels of the same expressway section due to over-acceleration or
the like. In that case, the driving conditions in the target
section may better be diagnosed negatively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In view of the above and other problems, the present
invention provides a driving advice provision apparatus that yields
an appropriately accurate diagnosis in a course of advice provision
based on the diagnosis of driving conditions.
[0011] In an aspect of the present disclosure, the driving advice
provision apparatus includes: a vehicle information acquisition
unit for acquiring vehicle information that represents a condition
of a vehicle; a diagnosis unit for diagnosing a driving condition
of the vehicle based on the vehicle information acquired by the
vehicle information acquisition unit; an advice generation unit for
generating an advice to be provided for a driver of the vehicle
based on a diagnosis result by the driving diagnosis unit; and an
advice notification unit for notifying the advice for the driver of
the vehicle generated by the advice generation unit. The diagnosis
unit of the driving advice provision apparatus diagnoses the
driving condition of a target travel section by (a) calculating the
driving condition of the vehicle for each of travel sections and
(b) comparing the calculated driving condition of the target travel
section with the calculated driving conditions of other travel
sections.
[0012] In other words, if the driving condition in the target
travel section is determined as worse in comparison to the driving
condition in the other travel section, the driving condition in the
target travel section may be diagnosed as being worsened. If,
conversely, the driving condition in the target travel section is
determined as better in comparison to the driving condition in the
other travel section, the driving condition in the target travel
section may be diagnosed as being better.
[0013] That is, the driving condition relatively worsened in the
target section than the other section leads to the worsened
diagnosis result, and the driving condition relatively improved in
the target section than the other section leads to the better
diagnosis result.
[0014] Due to the above-described operation scheme that employs
evaluation in a relative manner, the diagnosis result of the
driving advice provision apparatus in the scope of comparison range
can be determined accurately.
[0015] In other aspect of the present disclosure, a driving
condition diagnosis apparatus includes: a vehicle information
acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information that represents
a condition of a vehicle; and a diagnosis unit for diagnosing a
driving condition of the vehicle based on the vehicle information
acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit. The diagnosis
unit of the driving condition diagnosis apparatus diagnoses the
driving condition of a target travel section by (a) calculating the
driving condition of the vehicle for each of travel sections and
(b) comparing the calculated driving condition of the target travel
section with the calculated driving conditions of other travel
sections.
[0016] The driving condition diagnosis apparatus yields the same
advantageous effects as the driving advice provision apparatus
described above, due to the same operation scheme.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] Objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure
will become more apparent from the following detailed description
made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a driving diagnosis system
having an advice provision apparatus in an embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the advice provision
apparatus in the embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a time chart of diagnosis timing of driving
conditions and advice generation timing in the embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 4 is a diagram of equations of diagnosis calculation in
the embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0022] FIG. 5 is a diagram of information regarding a relation
between vehicle speeds and thresholds of accelerator opening in the
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of advice generation processing
executed in a control circuit in the embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0024] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a screen displaying a diagnosis
result of the driving condition in the embodiment of the present
disclosure; and
[0025] FIG. 8 is a time chart of advice provision timing in a
modification example of the embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] The present disclosure is described with reference to
drawings.
[0027] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a driving diagnosis system 1
having an advice provision an advice provision apparatus 10 of the
present disclosure.
[0028] The advice provision apparatus 10 is connected with a
vehicle local area network 200. Further, the network 200 has other
components such as, for example, a wide area communication unit
210, a speed pulse generator 220, an acceleration sensor 230 and a
fuel quantity detection sensor 240 connected thereto. In other
words, various sensors for detecting the condition of the vehicle
are connected with to the vehicle local area network 200.
[0029] The wide area communication unit 210 receives information
through a radio beacon, a light beacon or the like, and transmits
information therethrough. The transmitted and received information
includes, for example, traffic congestion information from VICS
information service (Vehicle Information and Communication Service
(Registered Trademark) implemented in Japan) together with other
information such as vehicle information, user information and the
like. The beacons are disposed along the road for reception and
transmission of the information from the communication unit
210.
[0030] The speed pulse generator 220 generates a pulse signal
according to the speed of the vehicle.
[0031] The acceleration sensor 230 outputs a signal according to
the acceleration of the vehicle.
[0032] The fuel quantity detection sensor 240 outputs a signal
according to the fuel quantity in the fuel tank.
[0033] FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the advice provision
apparatus 10. The advice provision apparatus 10 includes a position
sensor 101, a map database 106, an operation switch group 107, an
external memory 108, a display unit 109, a voice I/O unit 110, a
Bluetooth communication unit (hereinafter designated as a BT unit)
111, a remote control sensor 112, a vehicle interface (hereinafter
designated as a vehicle I/F) 113, and a the control circuit 115
which exerts total control of those components.
[0034] The position sensor 101 is a sensor group to detect the
current position and the azimuth (the direction of movement) of the
vehicle which has the advice provision apparatus 10, and is
equipped with a geomagnetism sensor 102, a gyroscope 103, a
distance sensor 104, and a GPS receiver 105.
[0035] The GPS receiver 105 receives a radio wave from GPS (Global
Positioning System) satellites through a GPS antenna 105a, and
detects the position, the azimuth (the direction of
movement/travel), the speed of the vehicle and the like.
[0036] The geomagnetism sensor 102 is an azimuth sensor which uses
a semiconductor, and detects geomagnetism of the earth in a
north-south direction for determining the azimuth (the direction of
movement). The gyroscope 103 is a sensor for detecting the angular
speed (the azimuth variation) of the vehicle, and outputs a
detection signal according to the angular speed of the rotating
motion of the vehicle.
[0037] The distance sensor 104 detects a travel distance based on
the acceleration in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and
other information.
[0038] The errors of the above sensors with respectively different
nature are compensated with each other, in order to achieve the
sufficient detection accuracy.
[0039] The map database 106 stores map data. The map data includes
link data which represents a road, node data which represents an
intersection, and so-called mapping matching to improve the
precision of a specified position, as well as mark data
representing facilities, image data for displaying navigation
screen, voice data for providing voice guidance.
[0040] The operation switch group 107 is an input operation panel
that is integrally formed with the display unit 109, having a touch
panel on the display screen together with mechanical button type
switches arranged around the screen. The touch panel and the
display unit 109 are arranged in a layered manner, and the various
methods of sensing the touch such as a pressure sensing method, an
electric-induction method, a capacitance method or a combination of
those methods may be employed for the touch sensing method of the
touch panel.
[0041] The external memory 108 stores various programs executed by
the circuit 115 as well as a calculation result of the control
circuit 115 and the like.
[0042] The display unit 109 uses a liquid crystal color display
unit or the like for displaying the image of diagnosis results, a
map, a searched route, a TV program, a DVD image and the like as
well as displaying button images when the screen of the display
unit 109 serves as a touch panel as a part of the operation switch
group 107.
[0043] The voice I/O unit 110 provides a sound/voice guidance by
outputting the sound/voice of the route guide, and converts user's
voice from a microphone to electric signals for voice recognition
and other purposes, that is, for outputting recognition results to
the control circuit 115.
[0044] The BT unit 111 is a component to wirelessly communicate
with peripheral equipment (based on a Bluetooth standard).
[0045] The remote control sensor 112 receives signals of radio wave
and infrared rays from a remote controller 120 which is operated by
the user, and inputs a reception result to the control circuit 115.
The user is enabled, by operating the remote controller 120, to
operate the apparatus 1 from a remote position in the same manner
as he/she operates the operation switch group 107.
[0046] The vehicle I/F 113 receives signals from the various
sensors in the vehicle (e.g., the speed pulse generator 220, the
acceleration sensor 230, the fuel quantity detection sensor 240 and
the like in FIG. 1) and inputs those signals to the control circuit
115. The vehicle may have other sensors such as, for example, an
accelerator sensor, a throttle position sensor, a brake sensor, a
steering angle sensor, an inter-vehicle distance sensor, an image
sensor, a turn signal sensor, an illumination sensor and the like
(not shown in the drawing).
[0047] The control circuit 115 is equipped with a driving
diagnostic information generation unit 151, a diagnostic
information comparison unit 153, and an advice generation unit
155.
[0048] The driving diagnostic information generation unit 151
receives signals, through the vehicle I/F 113, from the speed pulse
generator 220, the acceleration sensor 230, the fuel quantity
detection sensor 240, for example, that is, it acquires a vehicle
condition, and then generates diagnostic information (i.e., a
diagnosis result). Further, the driving diagnostic information
generation unit 151 calculates an information acquisition time
based on the time data included in the GPS signal from the GPS
satellites. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the driving
diagnostic information generation unit 151 performs a driving
condition diagnosis for a unit of travel section that has a
predetermined travel distance. The details of the diagnosis are
described later.
[0049] The diagnostic information comparison unit 153 compares
diagnosis results from each of the travel sections. More
specifically, it compares a diagnosis result of the previous travel
section with a diagnosis result from a current travel section.
[0050] The advice generation unit 155 generates an advice to be
provided for the driver of the vehicle, based on the diagnostic
information generated by the driving diagnostic information
generation unit 151 and/or a comparison result by the diagnostic
information comparison unit 153.
[0051] FIG. 3 is a time chart which shows the diagnosis timing of
the driving condition and the generation timing of the advice.
[0052] As for FIG. 3, the first row shows ON and OFF condition of
the accessories switch (ACC) of the vehicle.
[0053] The second row shows travel and stop of the vehicle. That
is, each of sections (1) to (6) shows a travel section of the
vehicle with the vehicle speed greater than 0 km/h. The other
portion of the chart represents stopping of the vehicle, with the
vehicle speed equal to 0 km/h. The numbers in each of the section
indicates a travel distance of the vehicle in each of those
sections.
[0054] The third row shows the diagnosis timing of the driving
condition. In the present embodiment, a diagnosis is performed for
a unit section, or for an evaluation section. More practically, the
travel of the vehicle is grasped by using the unit section, which
is defined by a start point having a cumulative travel distance of
0 km and an end point where the vehicle stops for the first time
after the cumulative travel distance exceeding 1.6 km. The
threshold distance of 1.6 km is employed based on a statistics of a
short travel, that is, a travel to a nearest store or the like.
[0055] In the example of FIG. 3, the spot where the vehicle starts
the travel after turning on of the ACC switch (i.e., the start
point of section (1)) is considered as a start point of the
evaluation section. According to the rule set forth in the above
description, the first stop at the cumulative distance of 0.8 km
does not exceed the threshold of 1.6 km, thereby making the spot of
the first stop (i.e., the end point of section (1)) not eligible as
the end point of an evaluation section. Likewise, the end point of
section (2) is not eligible for being an end point of an evaluation
section, due to the cumulative travel distance of 1.5 km. The end
point of section (3) with the cumulative travel distance of 2.2 km
then satisfies the end point condition of the evaluation section,
that is, exceeding the threshold of 1.6 km. In other words, the end
point of section (3) is the first stop after exceeding the
threshold of 1.6 km. Therefore, the first evaluation section starts
at the start point of section (1), and ends at the end point of
section (3). Thus, a diagnosis is performed for the first
evaluation section. The diagnosis timing of the first evaluation
section is set at the end point of the section (3). This diagnosis
timing is designated as a timing A in FIG. 3.
[0056] The next evaluation section, that is, the second evaluation
section, is then defined as a section starting at the end point of
section (3) and ending at the end point of section (5). The
diagnosis timing of the second evaluation section is set at the end
point of section (5). The diagnosis timing of the second evaluation
section is designated as a timing B.
[0057] The fourth row shows an advice generation timing (the
execution timing of the advice generation processing). At the
advice generation timing, a diagnosis result in the previous
evaluation section and a diagnosis result in the current evaluation
section are compared for a comparative evaluation of the current
section, and an advice based on the comparative evaluation is
generated. The details of the evaluation are described later with
reference to FIG. 5. Therefore, at the end point of the first
evaluation section, no advice is generated due to the non-existence
of the previous evaluation section. In other words, at the end
point of the second evaluation section, the diagnosis result of the
first evaluation section and the diagnosis result of the second
evaluation section are compared with each other, and the an advice
is generated based on the comparative evaluation of the diagnosis
result of the second evaluation section.
[0058] FIG. 4 is a diagram of diagnosis contents.
[0059] The diagram shows five diagnosis items, that is, an eco
switch use rate, an eco lamp lit rate, a mis-geared rate, a mode
selection rate, and an over-accel rate. For at least above five
items, the diagnosis performed in the present embodiment. In this
case, all of the five items are indices of environment and safety
related diagnosis represented by a rate of cumulative travel
distances.
[0060] A few comments on the above terms may help better understand
the contents of the diagnosis. That is, the eco switch is a travel
mode selection switch that turns on a low fuel consumption travel
mode. In the low fuel consumption travel mode, the air-conditioner
operation rate is suppressed relative to a normal mode, for
example, or a fuel injection amount is decreased for the same
stepping stroke of the acceleration pedal, for the purpose of
yielding a lower fuel consumption rate. Further, the eco lamp is an
indicator that is turned on when the vehicle is traveling in an
economical traveling condition. The economical traveling condition
may include the low fuel consumption condition.
[0061] Hereinafter, the details of each of the five diagnosis items
are described. In the following description, the "cumulative" value
indicates an accumulation of the subject value after turning on of
the ACC switch. Further, the suffix (n) represents that the subject
value is a value from the current diagnosis, and the suffix (n-1)
indicates that the subject value is a value from the previous
diagnosis.
[0062] (Eco Switch Use Rate)
[0063] The eco switch (SW) use rate is a rate of travel distance
with the eco switch turned on in a certain travel section or in a
certain travel distance.
[0064] The equation for calculating the eco switch use rate is,
(Eco SW use cumulative travel distance (n)-Eco SW use cumulative
travel distance (n-1))/(Cumulative travel distance (n))-(Cumulative
travel distance (n-1)) (Equation 1)
[0065] The eco switch use cumulative travel distance is a
cumulative travel distance of the vehicle with the eco switch
turned on (i.e., pressed-down).
[0066] The equation 1 is described with reference to the time chart
in FIG. 3. In the example of FIG. 3, there is no previous
evaluation section for the diagnosis timing A. Therefore, the
diagnosis value of the previous evaluation section is set as 0, and
the description is focused on the diagnosis timing B.
[0067] The numerator of the equation 1 is calculated by
subtracting, from an eco switch use (i.e., turned-on) cumulative
travel distance at the timing B, an eco switch use (i.e.,
turned-on) cumulative travel distance at the timing A. That is, in
other words, the travel distance with the eco switch turned on in
the second evaluation section is calculated as the numerator.
[0068] The denominator of the equation 1 is calculated by
subtracting, from a cumulative travel distance at the timing B, a
cumulative travel distance at the timing A. That is, in other
words, the travel distance of 2.8 km in the second evaluation
section is calculated as the denominator.
[0069] (Eco Lamp Lit Rate)
[0070] The eco lamp lit rate is a rate of travel distance with the
eco lamp turned on in a certain travel section.
[0071] The equation for calculating the eco switch use rate is,
(Eco lamp cumulative travel distance (n)-Eco lamp cumulative travel
distance (n-1))/(Eco lamp diag cumulative travel distance (n))-(Eco
lamp diag cumulative travel distance (n-1)) (Equation 2)
[0072] The eco lamp cumulative travel distance is a cumulative
travel distance of the vehicle with the eco lamp turned on (i.e.,
the eco lamp being lit).
[0073] The eco lamp diag cumulative travel distance is a cumulative
travel distance with a diagnosis function for determining use of
the eco lamp being enabled.
[0074] In the example of FIG. 3, the numerator of the equation 2 is
calculated by subtracting, from an eco lamp turned-on cumulative
travel distance at the timing B, an eco lamp turned-on cumulative
travel distance at the timing A. That is, in other words, the
travel distance with the eco lamp turned on in the second
evaluation section is calculated as the numerator.
[0075] The denominator of the equation 2 is calculated by
subtracting, from a 10 cumulative travel distance with the eco lamp
turn-on diagnosis at the timing B, a cumulative travel distance
with the eco lamp turn-on diagnosis at the timing A. That is, in
other words, the cumulative travel distance with the eco lamp
turn-on diagnosis exercisable in the second evaluation section is
calculated as the denominator.
[0076] (Mis-Geared Rate)
[0077] The mis-geared rate is a rate of travel distance with a gear
selection (i.e., a shift) not matching with an engine torque
output.
[0078] The equation for calculating the mis-geared rate is,
(Mis-geared cumulative travel distance (n)-Mis-geared cumulative
travel distance (n-1))/(Cumulative travel distance (n))-(Cumulative
travel distance (n-1)) (Equation 3)
[0079] The mis-geared cumulative travel distance is a cumulative
travel distance of the vehicle with the gear selection mis-matching
with the engine torque output.
[0080] In the example of FIG. 3, the numerator of the equation 3 is
calculated by subtracting, from a mis-geared cumulative travel
distance at the timing B, a mis-geared cumulative travel distance
at the timing A. That is, in other words, the travel distance with
the gear selection mis-matching with the engine torque output in
the second evaluation section is calculated as the numerator.
[0081] The denominator of the equation 3 is calculated in the same
manner as the equation 1.
[0082] (Mode Selection Rate)
[0083] The mode selection rate is a rate of travel distance with a
travel mode of the vehicle set to a certain travel mode, such as a
sport mode, a power mode and the like in a certain travel section
or in a certain travel distance. In this case, the sport mode/power
mode is a travel mode that prioritizes ease of driving, that is,
the acceleration response and brake response are improved, for
example. The sporupower travel mode may improve the acceleration
rate.
[0084] The equation for calculating the mode selection rate is,
(Mode-selected cumulative travel distance (n)-Mode-selected
cumulative travel distance (n-1))/(Cumulative travel distance
(n))-(Cumulative travel distance (n-1)) (Equation 4)
[0085] The mode-selected cumulative travel distance is, in this
case, a cumulative travel distance of the vehicle with a selection
of an eco mode that realizes an economical travel of the
vehicle.
[0086] In the example of FIG. 3, the numerator of the equation 4 is
calculated by subtracting, from an eco mode used (i.e., selected)
cumulative travel distance at the timing B, an eco mode used (i.e.,
selected) cumulative travel distance at the timing A. That is, in
other words, the travel distance with the eco mode selection in the
second evaluation section is calculated as the numerator.
[0087] The denominator of the equation 4 is calculated in the same
manner as the equation 1.
[0088] (Over-Accel Rate)
[0089] The over-accel rate is a rate of travel distance with an
accelerator opening (a stepping amount of the accelerator)
exceeding a threshold in a certain travel section or in a certain
travel distance. The threshold of the acceleration is changed
depending on the speed of the vehicle. The relationship of the
acceleration with the vehicle speed is stored in a table format in
the external memory 108, as illustrated in FIG. 5. That is, the
threshold of the accelerator opening for each of the vehicle speeds
of 0 km/h, 5 km/h, 10 km/h, 20 km/h, up to 110 km/h is defined in
the table. Further, an engine type and transmission type attribute
are added in the table.
[0090] The equation for calculating the over-accel rate is,
(Over-accelerated cumulative travel distance (n)-Over-accelerated
cumulative travel distance (n-1))/(Cumulative travel distance
(n))-(Cumulative travel distance (n-1)) (Equation 5)
[0091] The over-accelerated cumulative travel distance is a
cumulative travel distance of the vehicle with the accelerator
opening exceeding a threshold.
[0092] In the example of FIG. 3, the numerator of the equation 5 is
calculated by subtracting, from an over-accelerated cumulative
travel distance at the timing B, an over-accelerated cumulative
travel distance at the timing A. That is, in other words, the
travel distance with the accelerator opening exceeding a threshold
in the second evaluation section is calculated as the
numerator.
[0093] The denominator of the equation 5 is calculated in the same
manner as the equation 1.
[0094] A flowchart in FIG. 6 is then described for illustrating the
advice generation processing in the control circuit 115.
[0095] The advice generation processing of FIG. 6 is executed at
the advice generation timing as explained in FIG. 3.
[0096] At the start of the processing of FIG. 3, the process in
S110 determines how many times the advice has been generated since
turning-on of the accessory (ACC) switch (T th timing: `T` is used
as a variable), and then calculates the remainder of the number T
after division by 5 (T/5). More practically, if the remainder is
equal to 1 is determined.
[0097] The process proceeds to S140 when determining that the
remainder of the division by 5 is not equal to 1 (S110:NO).
[0098] The process proceeds to S120 when determining that the
remainder of the division by 5 is equal to 1 (S110:YES).
[0099] In other words, according to the above calculation, once for
every five times of the advice generation processing, the process
executes the processing of S120 and S130. By the above calculation
in S110, the frequent execution of S120/S130 is prevented when the
driver has intentionally turned off the eco switch. In other words,
frequent/successive generation of an attention drawing advice,
which may be generated depending on the determination in S120/S130,
is prevented by the calculation of S110. Details of the operation
scheme are described later.
[0100] In S120, the process proceeds to S190 when determining that
the eco switch use rate in the current evaluation section is equal
to 0 (S120:YES).
[0101] In S190, the process notifies that the eco switch is being
turned off. More practically, an advice is generated for notifying
that the eco switch is turned off, and the advice is displayed on
the screen of the display unit 109. The advice may also be provided
by voice from the voice I/O unit 110. The process then proceeds to
S260.
[0102] In S120, if it is determined that the eco switch use rate in
the current evaluation section is not equal to 0 (S120:NO), the
process proceeds to S130.
[0103] In S130, the process determines whether the eco switch use
rate in the current evaluation section is smaller than 0.8. If the
eco switch use rate is smaller than 0.8 (S130:YES), the process
proceeds to S200.
[0104] In S200, the process notifies that the eco switch use rate
is low. More practically, an advice is generated for notifying that
the eco switch use rate is low, and the advice is displayed on the
screen of the display unit 109. The process then proceeds to
S260.
[0105] If the eco switch use rate is not smaller than 0.8
(S130:NO), the process proceeds to S140.
[0106] In S140, an absolute value of difference between the eco
switch use rate in the current diagnosis result and the eco switch
use rate in the previous diagnosis result (designated as "eco
switch diag value" hereinafter) is compared with an absolute value
of difference between the eco lamp lit rate in the current
diagnosis result and the eco lamp lit rate in the previous
diagnosis result (designated as "eco lamp diag value" hereinafter).
If the eco switch diag value is equal to or greater than the eco
lamp diag value (S140:YES), the process proceeds to S170.
[0107] In S170, the process proceeds to S210 when determining that
the eco switch use rate in the current evaluation section minus the
eco switch use rate in the previous evaluation section is greater
than 0 (S170:YES).
[0108] In S210, an "advice" that praises the driver for the
economical driving condition is generated and displayed on the
screen of the display unit 109. The process then proceeds to
S260.
[0109] If, in S170, the difference is determined as not greater
than 0 (S170:NO), the process proceeds to S180.
[0110] In S180, the process proceeds to S220 when determining that
the eco switch use rate in the current diagnosis result is not
equal to or greater than 0.8 (S180:NO), based on the reasoning that
the eco switch use rate is low.
[0111] In S220, an advice that notifies the driver of a low eco
switch use rate is generated and displayed on the screen of the
display unit 109, and the process then proceeds to S260.
[0112] If, in S180, the process determines that the eco switch use
rate is greater than 0.8 (S180:YES), the process proceeds to
S150.
[0113] Further, if the process in S140 determines that the eco
switch diag value is not equal to or greater than the eco lamp diag
value (S140:NO), the process also proceeds to S150.
[0114] In S150, the process determines whether the eco lamp lit
rate in the current evaluation section minus the eco lamp lit rate
in the previous evaluation section is greater than 0. If the
difference is greater than 0 (S150:YES), the process proceeds to
S230.
[0115] In S230, an "advice" that praises the driver for a long eco
lamp on period is generated and displayed on the screen of the
display unit 109. The process then proceeds to S260.
[0116] If, in S150, the process determines that the difference is
not greater than 0 (S150:NO), the process proceeds to S160. The
process in S160 determines whether the eco lamp lit rate in the
current diagnosis result is greater than 0.8. If the eco lamp lit
rate in the current diagnosis result is greater than 0.8
(S160:YES), the process proceeds to S240. In S240, the process
generates no advice before proceeding to S260.
[0117] If, in S160, the process determines that the eco lamp lit
rate is not greater than 0.8 (S160:NO), the process proceeds to
S250, for generating and displaying, on the screen of the display
unit 109, an advice that notifies the driver that the accelerator
is opened too much. The process then proceeds to S260.
[0118] In S260, the process returns to S110 when determining that
the vehicle is stopping (S260:YES).
[0119] If, in S260, the process determines that the vehicle is not
stopping (S260:NO), the process proceeds to S270.
[0120] In S270, the process returns to S110 when determining that
the ACC switch is not turned off (S270:NO). If, in S270, the
process determines that the ACC switch is turned off (S270:YES),
the process concludes itself.
[0121] An example of the screen that displays the diagnosis result
of the driving condition is shown in FIG. 7. The screen at least
displays user information, an eco level, fuel mileage information,
and an advice.
[0122] The user information is information of a user who is logged
in. If no user is logged in, that is, if no user is identified, the
screen displays GUEST DRIVER as the user name, indicating that the
user is presumed as a guest.
[0123] The eco level is an index of the "economical" driving habit.
For example, the diagnosis results such as the fuel mileage, the
eco switch use rate, the eco lamp lit rate, the mis-geared rate,
the mode selection rate, the over-accel rate and the like are
totally evaluated, for the purpose of eco level determination. The
term of evaluation may be for one minute, for one trip (e.g., a
term between the turning-on and turning-off of the ACC switch), or
for a period determined by the driver.
[0124] In the fuel mileage information, the fuel mileage at a
certain time of travel is displayed.
[0125] In the advice column, an advice generated by the processing
in FIG. 6 is displayed. More specifically, the advice generated in
S190 to S230 and S250 is displayed.
[0126] As described above, the driving diagnosis system of the
present embodiment can evaluate the driving condition and generate
an advice for the driving condition in the current evaluation
section, based on the comparison of the diagnosis result in the
previous evaluation section and the diagnosis result in the current
evaluation section, thereby enabling evaluation and provision of
the advice on a diagnosis item that can hardly be evaluated in a
quantitative manner. In other words, the relative assessment of the
driving condition can be provided for the hardly diagnosed items
that hardly accept the absolute assessment. Therefore, the driving
skill of the driver can be effectively and efficiently
improved.
[0127] Further, in the above embodiment, the excessive advice
generation processing load as well as the discouragement of the
driver can be prevented, due to the operation scheme in a
well-sorted and considerate manner. That is, even when the
diagnosis result in the current evaluation section has inferior
contents relative to the previous evaluation section (S150:NO or
S170:NO), an advice that warns the driver of the inferiority of the
current condition is not generated (S240) when the current
diagnosis result exceeds a certain standard (S160:YES or S180:YES).
In other words, the deterioration of the driving condition does not
directly lead to the warning advice.
[0128] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an advice is generated
for multiple diagnosis items separately (e.g., in S190 to S230 and
S250), the contents of an advice can be more specific and
concrete.
[0129] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an advice is provided
for the driver only when the vehicle is stopping, the driver can
concentrate of the driving operation while the vehicle is
traveling.
[0130] Further, the present disclosure may take a modified form
described in the following.
MODIFICATION EXAMPLE
[0131] Modification of the above-described embodiment is described
with reference to FIG. 8.
[0132] FIG. 8 is a time chart illustrating advice provision timing
in the modification example.
[0133] The first row of the time chart is a travel condition of the
vehicle, that is, a travel with a reduced speed and stopping of the
vehicle subsequent to a stopping at a stop sign, for example, of an
intersection.
[0134] In the first row, sections (7) to (9) represent reduced
speed travel sections with the vehicle travel speed of 4 km/h or
less, and the other portions represent stopping sections.
[0135] The second row of the time chart is advice generation
timings. That is, a timing C indicates an advice generation timing.
In the modification example, the advice is generated at a timing
when the vehicle started a travel after stopping, that is, at a
time of travel with the reduced speed.
[0136] The third row of the time chart is advice provision timings.
That is, the advice is provided for the driver of the vehicle when
the vehicle starts the travel after stopping, or after the travel
with the reduced speed. In the modification example, the number of
advice provision is twice.
[0137] The two counts of advice provision are determined in the
following manner.
[0138] First, an advice is provided when the vehicle starts to
travel, and is counted as the first advice after the travel with
the speed above 0 km/h and under 4 km/h continues for at least 5
seconds.
[0139] For example, at a timing D in FIG. 8, that is, at a start
point of the section (7), an advice is provided. However, the
section (7) continues only for 2 sections that are less than 5
seconds, thereby not leading to the advice count.
[0140] Next, at a timing E at a start point of the section (8),
another advice is provided with one advice count, due to the
continuation of the section (8) for 6 seconds. That is, the advice
provided at the timing E is considered as the first advice.
Likewise, the advice provided at a timing F is considered as the
second advice.
[0141] The above operation scheme has the following benefits and
advantages. That is, the advice is provided at least twice, thereby
preventing the driver from overlooking the provided advice.
[0142] Further, if the duration of stopping is less than 5 seconds,
the advice count will not be incremented even when the advice is
provided during stopping. Therefore, the advice count during, for
example, the frequent goes and stops in a congested road section is
not incremented by the advice provision due to a short stopping.
That is, in other words, insufficiency of advice provision is
prevented for the travel in a congested road section or the
like.
[0143] Although the present disclosure has been fully described in
connection with preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the
accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and
modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
[0144] For example, for each of the multiple diagnosis items (see
FIG. 4), an advice is provided in the above embodiment. Further,
the advice generation and provision may be stopped, for a certain
period of time, for the diagnosis item that does not have a "good"
diagnosis for consecutive evaluation sections.
[0145] Furthermore, regarding the total evaluation of multiple
diagnosis items (e.g., the eco-level in FIG. 7) based on the
respective diagnosis items in FIG. 4 as described above, the
respective diagnosis items may be weighted by a weighting
factor.
[0146] Furthermore, the advice provision (i.e., notification of the
advice) for the multiple diagnosis items in FIG. 4 may be performed
in an order of weighting factors in the above embodiment.
[0147] Furthermore, the advice provision apparatus 10 or the
driving diagnosis system 1 may only have the driving condition
diagnosis functions without having the advice generation and
provision functions.
[0148] Furthermore, the fuel consumption information in FIG. 7 may
represent an average fuel consumption for a certain period of time,
or may display a graph of fuel consumption trend for a certain
period of time.
[0149] Such changes, modifications, and summarized scheme are to be
understood as being within the scope of the present disclosure as
defined by appended claims.
* * * * *